Good Views From Summit

I thought I would do an update and pull together the two trip reports for this summit.
http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/k9wbz/2019-april-23/w7onc-060-lone-ridge-act...
http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/n7un/2016-september-07/lone-ridge-w7onc-060
It is 9.5 miles round trip and 1200 feet of gain from the gate to the summit.
This makes it a very nice biketavation as the slope is usually managable on the bike with a few hike a bikes here and there. The road is good gravel and goes all the way to the top. The views are wonderful.

May 28th, 2023.  Trip #3 up Rocky Top for me and activation #2.  But this time we were a party of 7, 5 of which were general class operators.  

Dusk Point is a 1.8 mile round trip (500 ft vertical) hike off of FR-2364 in the South Olympics.  Access is straightforward (once the snow melts!) but FR-2364 does require a high clearance vehicle. The summit is exposed with limited to no shade even though some trees line the perimeter.  I did not have any ATT cell service but there is excellent APRS two-way messaging to enable spotting.

Badger Peak is a easy 4 pt summit.  Mostly a drive up with about a 1 mile hike to AZ.  There is about  650 ft of vertical lift from the parking place.

Parking for Monument Peak summit (aka Peak 4740) is on Monument Peak Road (MPR) about 7.5 miles up from the Monument Peak Trailhead at the south end of Gates School Road.  Gates School Road is at milepost 33 on OR-22 east of Salem.  I recommend parking here: (44.6966, -122.3343), the junction of MPR and what is now a washed out logging road - 2WD vehicles need not apply. 

The summit of Maryhill Benchmark (aka Juniper Point by the locals) is a drive-up radio site located on private property. Public drive-up access is restricted due to multiple private properties, the Tuolumme Wind Project Authority Project and a locked gate. The facility has 24/7 onsite security and patrols. There is a Radio site on Maryhill Benchmark and service personnel have an easement to travel to the summit. I maintain equipment at this radio site.

NC-128 is one of the "new" peaks added during the 2023 ARM update. It's on private Stimson land, but publicly accessible to walk-in during weekends and after 4pm on weekdays. The easiest access is drive-in/hike-in from the south via Turner Creek Rd past Barney Reservoir, but would also be accessible by long hike or bike via the north through the same roads as NC-066. If doing the drive/hike route, it's a 15 mile gravel road drive and a 1 mile gravel road hike to the summit. This is easily paired with Blind Cabin Ridge NC-031.

Davis Peak is very accessible to Portland Metro, with a half mile hike and offers an amazing view. The downside is a fair bit of RF interference from the installation sharing the peak with you.

The google directions were accurate, although I will note that the main road to the peak has 2 names, and signage alternates between them : "Aho Carson" and "Davis Peak Road". When google told us to take a right onto Davis Peak Road the sign at the turn said "Aho Carson".

My friend John K7JRO sent me an email on Friday night saying he was going to activate Goat Peak the next day. It was going to be a trip with the Seattle Mountaineers, and therefore a very short, 2m FM only activation. I decided it would be fun to surprise him by getting myself on to a nearby summit. After looking at SOTLAS for a few minutes, I found a likely pair of summits: Mount Josephine and Mount Josephine West. Clint KJ7LLS had previously activated these two, so I pinged him on Slack and he graciously provided information. Woot!

Fanno Peak is on Weyerhaeuser property and requires a recreation permit for access which has a limited number avalible, and has a cost (Black Rock is the permit area).